The move leaves Afghanistan without a parliament some five months after the September vote, and consequently with no checks on President Karzai’s power. This has led many of the would-be MPs to complain the move is about keeping Karzai dominant more than uncovering the corruption.

With seemingly little appetite for a new vote, and even less appetite for ensuring that such a vote would be less ridiculously crooked, Afghanistan seems to be faced with either endless probes keeping Karzai ruling unchecked or the seating of a crooked parliament with no mandate struggling to check a crooked president whose own mandate is very much in doubt.